Innovative Potable Water Purification without RO - Direct Potable Reuse Demonstration Pilot in Central Florida

Abstract: Potable water reuse has been studied nationally using cost and energy intensive processes like reverse osmosis (RO) to physically separate impurities from water. Looking to the future of water reuse in Central Florida, the City of Altamonte Springs is currently operating an ozone/biologically active filtration (O3/BAF) based treatment train, which produces a highly treated potable water supply without generating the concentrate waste stream associated with RO. The 12-month pilot project is currently underway where a 20 gpm pilot is treating secondary non-disinfected filtered effluent by O3/BAF, ultrafiltration (UF), granular activated carbon filtration (GAC), and ultraviolet light advanced oxidation process (UV AOP). Water quality results to date show that an O3/BAF based potable reuse treatment train can provide effective treatment for pathogens, regulated contaminants, contaminants of emerging concern, and other parameters that may pose a risk to human health.